A banner calling for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to allow the infant children of asylum seekers to remain in Australia and not in offshore detention centers is shown during a demonstration in Melbourne, Australia, February 19, 2016. PHOTO: REUTERS

SYDNEY: Australia on Monday said an asylum-seeker baby doctors had refused to discharge from hospital is expected to be returned to a remote Pacific detention camp, as a deterrent to people-smugglers.

Under Canberra’s harsh immigration policy, asylum-seekers attempting to arrive in Australia by boat are sent to camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where they are held while their refugee applications are processed.

They are blocked from being resettled in Australia even if found to be refugees.

The case of one-year-old Asha, the daughter of Nepalese asylum-seekers who was brought to Brisbane suffering burns last month, prompted a stand-off with doctors and a week of rallies outside the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Medical staff had refused to release her until a suitable home environment had been identified.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said she had now been moved to community detention, where asylum-seekers waiting for their refugee applications to be processed live within the community and are usually allowed to move around freely.

But he added that the government would not back down on its policy of returning her to offshore detention once medical and legal issues had been resolved.

“She’s in community detention and obviously support will be provided to the family,” Dutton told the Nine Network.

Churches, state governments and even New Zealand have offered sanctuary to Asha and the 266 other asylum-seekers also in Australia for medical care.

But Dutton said this would not be happening, saying it would only encourage people-smugglers.

“I’ve been very clear, the government’s been very clear from day one, that we have a responsibility not only to this baby, but to the babies who drowned at sea before and also potentially to babies that will drown again if the people-smugglers got back into business,” he said.

“So there is a much bigger issue at play here and, as I say, as a country we should be proud because we bring in record numbers of refugees through the UN and through the Special Humanitarian Programme.

“But we are not going to allow a message to get out that people can come to Nauru, come to Australia for medical assistance and then that will be their ticket out into Australian society. That is not going to happen.”

Canberra has long defended its hardline policy, which also includes turning boats back, saying it has prevented deaths at sea and secured its borders.

Under the previous Labor government, at least 1,200 people died trying to reach Australia by boat between 2008 and 2013.

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Reader Comments (1)

How about some impartial journalism? ‘harsh immigration policies’, ‘hardline policy’- obviously written by somebody who has never tried to be an immigrant in other countries. I have, and believe me, Australia has VERY liberal immigration policies. What Australia DOES have strong laws on is ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. These are NOT immigrants – they are ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

An immigrant is one who applies for immigration.

Having lived in Ukraine, China, India and the Philippines, I can assure you that people who arrive without a visa are detained in prisons, not detention centres. They are treated as criminals, for entering a country without a visa is a crime. Yes, a crime. And having visited one prison in Ukraine to visit a border jumper, and one in India to identify the driver of a car which hit me and left the scene, I can tell you that even as a visitor they are not a place I would wish to see again.

There are laid down procedures for refugees to apply to come to Australia and other countries. People who decide to try their luck at getting in illegally, and are then caught, have nobody to blame but themselves.

Does this mean I have no sympathy for them? Of course not! What I don’t have sympathy for is their plea for mercy after having broken our laws.Recommend